Star Trek Costumes and Uniforms

Star Trek Costume
Star Trek as well as know has been around for a while, from he original Star Trek Series that first appeared in 1966 through to the Star Trek Movie released in May 2009. During all this time the the costumes have changed and evolved, but they have all still remain recognizable as a Star Trek costume. On this page I will go through the different variations of the Star Trek uniforms and where, if available you can buy them.

Star Trek UniformsStar Trek 2009 The Movie

The 2009 film follows James T. Kirk and the Enterprise crew fresh from the Star Fleet Academy as they fight to stop Romulans from the future from destroying Vulcan and Earth. The new Star Trek uniforms were designed by Michael Kaplan who wanted the shirts to be more sophisticated than the original versions but at the same time remain true to the original television series. A few of the small changes include: The tops are now designed in two layers with a colored quilted pattern over shirt in gold, blue, or red, which indicates which part of the crew that person is in (command officers wear gold shirts, science and medical officers wear blue, operations (technicians or engineers) and security personnel wear red) and a black undershirt. The over-shirt has the arrowhead pin-shape woven into the fabric and is also silver instead of gold. Jus as in the original series, the female Starfleet officers wear skirts, but their tops now have short sleeves. The use of unique logos for individual ships and stations ("assignment patches") appears to have been abandoned.

Where to Buy the Star Trek Costume from the Movie 2009
So far the only major supplier of the new 2009 Star Trek costume that I have found is BuyCostumes.com (click on banner below for link to their shop) - Updated 04/05/2009 - Amazon now also feature the new Star Trek Costumes from the 2009 film.

The Original Series (1966–1969) Star Trek Uniforms

The The Original Series of Star Trek first appeared in the US in 1966 and follows the crew of the starship Enterprise during it's 5 year mission "to boldly go where no man has gone before." The series ran right up until 1969 and featured William Shatner as Captain James Tiberius Kirk, Leonard Nimoy as Spock, DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, James Doohan as Montgomery Scott, Nichelle Nichols as Uhura, George Takei as Hikaru Sulu, and Walter Koenig as Pavel Chekov.

In the series, the male officers on the USS Enterprise wore a colored shirt with a stylized arrowhead on the left breast, black pants, and black boots. The female Starfleet officers wore a uniform skirt, black tights and boots, and occasionally wear the male style of uniform.

A close look at the insignia within the arrowhead logo would indicate the wearer's position within the crew. A star for command, a small round symbol for science and medical, and an angular spiral indicates engineering.

The shirt color of the Star Trek Costume also lets you know what part of the crew that person is in. Originally the command personnel wore green, science and medical personnel wore blue, and operations wore beige. This changed and for most of the series, the command and main people in the helm wore gold shirts, engineering and security personnel wore red and science and medical personnel wore blue.

Costumes: I have yet to find anywhere that sells costumes from the Original Star Trek Series.

The Next Generation (1987–1994) Star Trek Cstumes

Because thie Next Generation was set about 100 years after The Original Series, it featured a new crew with Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes), new starship, the Enterprise-D, as well as a new design for the uniforms. The Star Trek costume for the Next Generation consisted of a jumpsuit, once again coloured to identify what part of the crew that person was in, with red for command, gold for engineering, security, and operations and blue for science and medical. A rank insignia was also placed on the right side of the collar .The Starfleet communicator badge (commbadge) was located on the left chest.

The movie also features Dr. Beverly Crusher played by Gates McFadden, LeVar Burton as chief engineer Geordi La Forge, and the android Data portrayed by Brent Spiner. What was also new in The Next Generation were alien races were added to the Federation as crew members, these included Worf as the first Klingon officer in Starfleet, played by Michael Dorn, Deanna Troi who is a half-Betazoid counselor played by Marina Sirtis.

Where to Buy the Next Generation Star Trek UniformsAmazon have a good selection of the Next Generation costumes for both men, women and children:

Deep Space Nine (1993 – 1999)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was follows the last years and the immediate post years of The Next Generation. The series lasted for 7 seasons and is the only Star Trek series to take place primarily on a space station rather than aboard a starship. The series follows the story of the station's crew, who is led by Commander (later Captain) Benjamin Sisko, played by Avery Brooks and is set on the Deep Space Nine space station, situated close to the planet Bajor and a wormhole that is a point of access to the distant Gamma Quadrant.

The Deep Space Nine Starfleet Uniform
A new Star Trek costume was introduced for Deep Space Nine, which was basically the opposite of the Next Generation Costumes, in that they now had coloured shoulders to indicate your section in the crew and a black torso. The uniform consistered of a single-piece open necked jumpsuit and a purple turtleneck which rank indicators were fitted.

Where to Buy the Deep Space Nine Star Trek Costumes
Once again, Amazon has a good selection of Deep Space Nine costumes. These costumes are also the same as the Star Trek Voyager costumes:

Voyager (1995 – 2001)

Star Trek Voyager lasted for 7 seasons and features Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway, who is the first female commanding officer in a leading role of a Star Trek series. Voyager is set at around the same time as Deep Space Nine and as such the costumes are the same. The Voyager gets stuck in the Delta Quadrant about 70 thousand light years away from Earth, meaning that it would take over 70 years to get back home.

Star Trek Voyager Uniforms
The Starfleet costume used in Voyager is that same as that of Deep Space Nine as they are set at around the same time and because they are stuck in the Delta Quadrant and out of contact with Starfleet, the Voyager crew never makes the switch to the updated Star Trek uniform. Amazon have a large range of Deep Space Nine and Voyager Costumes, see links above.

Enterprise (2001 - 2005)

Star Trek: Enterprise is a prequel to the other Star Trek series and takes place in the 2150s which is about 90 years after Zefram Cochrane developed the first warp-capable starship from a ballistic missile and about a decade before the founding of the Federation. The series shows how the first extraterrestrial contact with the Vulcans and subsequent guidance led to Earth's first warp-five capable starship, the Enterprise, commanded by Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula).

Star Trek Enterprise Uniforms
The uniforms in Enterprise consist of a dark long sleeved undershirt and blue jumpsuit with colored piping around the shoulders, to signify what part of the crew that person is in, with command and flight control officers in the helm using gold, engineering and security officers with red, and science, medical and communication officers with blue piping. The United Earth Starfleet patch is located on the right upper arm and featurs the stylized arrowhead emblem and the Enterprise emblem patch is on the left upper arm. Men and women wear the same uniform.